In my last post I mentioned that I was growing a sourdough starter. After I let it grow wild yeast for 2 weeks in a mason jar, I finally got to bake my first loaf of bread today. The starter smells a lot like alcohol which kind of worried me, since the book I referenced only mentioned it getting a sour smell. Mine didn't smell sour at all! I couldn't smell anything but beer! But, amazingly, my bread turned out awesome! It tastes like real sourdough bread! Even though it is kinda weird to leave fermenting flour and water on the counter for a week, it really works! I grew my own yeast, it rose, and it contributed to a great sourdough flavor.
I referenced The Urban Homestead: Your Guide to Self-Sufficient Living in the Heart of the City by Kelly Coyne and Erik Knutzen for making the starter, but this book had an overly complicated recipe for actually making the bread. Sourdough Baking: The Basics by S. John Ross has an awesome recipe for sourdough bread. He also lays out how to grow a starter (I just let mine grow for a lot longer than he suggests).
Also, I'm really excited that one of my best friends included Parker's and my gardening endeavors in a project for one of his journalism classes. I feel really interesting to have a friend want to write about me! He did a project on the slow food movement in Austin and included us in his Backyards segment.
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